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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Roy Hodgson Close to Become Liverpool Manager

It seems Liverpool would declare Roy Hodgson as their new manager very soon after the 62-year-old has agreed a £3million yearly salary. Reports also have it in the media that Hodgson has also reached a compensation deal worth £2 million (some say £2.5m) with his current club Fulham.

The former Inter Milan manager has been one of the two favorites alongside Kenny Dalglish to take over the managerial job at the Merseyside club since the departure of Rafael Benitez who has now joined Inter Milan as the replacement of Jose Mourinho.

Liverpool officials also considered former Real Madrid manager Manuel Pellegrini and current Marseille manager Didier Deschamps for the post, but Hodgson always remained their top priority mainly because of his success with Fulham. He guided Fulham to reach the final of UEFA Europa League last season.

His assistant and goalkeeping coach Mike Kelly would also join him at Liverpool. Hodgson’s first job as the Liverpool manager would be to convince captain Steven Gerrard and star striker Fernando Torres to stay at Anfield. Both the players have been reportedly linked with big European clubs who are offering lucrative deals. Real Madrid is all set to try their best to sign Gerrard, Barcelona and Chelsea are in the race to secure the service of Torres.

Moreover, a number of other players are also linked with other European clubs at a time when the club is facing a huge financial crisis. More importantly, Liverpool failed to clinch a Champions League place last season as they finished 7th in the table. There is no certainty that Liverpool would be able to bring in quality players in the summer transfer window and becomes a force to make a serious bid for a top four finish, rather than even making a title bid.